


Jailhouse Showdown

by antigrav_vector



Series: Bingo - Western AU [9]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 1872, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Secret Wars Battleworlds
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Western, Cap_Ironman Bingo, Crossover, M/M, Multiverse, Shirtless Steve, Stony Bingo, Stony Bingo 2016, Unrequited Crush, because reasons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 04:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8358079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antigrav_vector/pseuds/antigrav_vector
Summary: Steve gets into trouble trying to keep Tony safe. This is unacceptable.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for the "shirtless with a gun" prompt on my bingo card. Betaed by the lovely [navaan](http://archiveofourown.org/users/navaan).

It wasn't long after dawn that the Sheriff and his counterpart arrived at Mrs. Barnes' house, looking concerned. Mrs. Barnes had let them in without question, and they'd picked their way through the still-messy foyer to seat themselves in the mostly-pristine sitting room.

"What happened?" Steve inquired as he sat down.

"Fisk's men tried to break in and take our visitor," Mrs. Barnes answered, sounding very pleased with herself. "I didn't let them."

"Shit."

Tony wasn't surprised to hear his counterpart swear. He huffed and raised an eyebrow at the man. "That's about right. Might have nightmares about my heroine here, though."

Mrs. Barnes smirked, visibly enjoying the remark. "You'd best get him out of here, Sheriff," she said, "and fast. After this Fisk won't hesitate to use all the force he can muster."

Steve nodded and stood. "Right. Tony, get back to town and let Jan know what's happened. I'll take Junior here back to the station. It's more defensible than anything else in town and while it's still early there'll be fewer eyes on us."

His counterpart hurried out of the room with a nod, clearly trusting in Steve's assessment of the situation and agreeing with the decision. Rolling his eyes at the nickname, which had unfortunately stuck, Tony stood too, deciding he'd have to start calling his counterpart 'Senior'. "Does 'more defensible' mean 'actually defensible'?" he inquired.

Steve shrugged. "More or less. It's not built to withstand a full-scale assault, but it's not just slapped together out of straw and mud, either. Come on, now. Mrs. Barnes can take care of herself if any more of them show up here."

They made it to the jail without incident, somewhat to Tony's amazement, and managed to get through the rest of the day in peace, against all their expectations. Tony was pretty sure Fisk's men were regrouping. Steve was pretty sure they were trying to find more men to replace the dead ones.

They were probably both right, Tony reflected as he picked at his dinner. Jan had shown up at the door with a pair of packed meals and a bright smile.

Nothing happened throughout the night, either, though Tony found himself unable to sleep for the tension. He'd never been good at waiting. Steve, the bastard, managed to fall asleep almost immediately.

Tony tossed and turned for what felt like the whole night on the hard bunk he'd been given. It was positioned in an unlocked cell at the very back of the building, far from the door. Tony knew that was for a reason: Steve wanted him out of sight. 

Steve himself had just stripped off his shirt, then propped himself in his chair with his legs crossed and resting on his desk, as though napping on the job, and tipped his hat down over his eyes.

Sometime in the night he must have finally fallen asleep, though, because Tony woke to the sound of someone shouting.

"-- gonna let me pass," someone was yelling, "or I'll blow you away!"

Steve's voice answered, at a more or less socially acceptable volume. "I don't see why I should. You've barged in here, onto federally owned property, making demands I cannot fulfil, and are threatening my life. I should clap you in irons for that. I'll give you one more chance: leave. _Now._ "

Tony dared peek around the edge of the cell door, knowing that if he was seen it would destroy the delicate power balance of the moment and probably get the sheriff seriously hurt.

What he saw, though, holy fuck. The image would stay with him for a long damned time, and -- he knew himself -- when he finally managed to get home he would probably end up jerking off to it at least once. 

Steve stood in the doorway of the jail, facing down a gang of six men, shirtless but with his trusty six-shooter in his hand. Tony could see a number of scars marring the lightly tanned skin of Steve's back, but they took away nothing from the image he presented, every inch the sheriff he claimed to be, and then some.

There was a low growl from the gang of men that shattered the moment. "We ain't gonna listen to him, are we, fellas?" One of them asked rhetorically.

"Nah," one of the others replied. "Just shoot him and be done with it."

Tony had heard enough. He grabbed his suitcase suit, and activated it. Feeling it wrap around him but not having JARVIS' voice in his ear was a decidedly weird sensation, but he set that consideration aside as he ran out of the cell he'd been hidden in.

There was no way he was about to allow Steve to get killed over some stupid bullshit nonsense like this.

Shoving Steve aside, he noted with glee the expressions of fear on their faces. "If you want to shoot him, you'll have to get through me first."

That was all it took to send the six men running, screaming some nonsense about possession and mechanical men. Tony smirked at his faceplate, enjoying the sight, even as he knew he'd probably made his own situation that much worse.

It didn't take a genius to connect the stranger that had shown up in town with the 'mechanical man'.

"Junior?" Steve's expression of awe was kind of satisfying, though.

Now that the immediate danger was over, Tony flipped up the faceplate and grinned at him. "Yeah, it's me."

\------


End file.
